Traveler guide rings for spinning and twisting machines



S. FURST May 7, 1968 TRAVELER GUIDE RINGS FOR SPINNING AND TWISTING MACHINES Filed Feb. 4, 1966 United States Patent 6 Claims. oi. 57-119 ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOfiURE Traveler guide ring for ring spinning has a ring body of steel with annular surface areas for guiding a traveler, the body having at least at the annular surface areas a surface zone of steel softer than that of the body and integrally joined therewith, the ring being a finished product ready for use in a spinning operation.

Specification My invention relates to the rings employed in spinning and twisting machines for guiding the loop-shaped traveler along its circular path around the bobbin, cop or other body of yarn being wound from the spun or twisted yarn passing through the traveler, usually consisting of a loop formed of steel wire.

The rapid gliding motion of the traveler along the circular path formed by such a guide ring imposes a considerable amount of frictional wear upon the glide areas of the ring surface. It has been necessary, therefore, to replace the worn-out rings from time to time. A substituted new ring must first be operated at greatly reduced speed for a prolonged starting-up time before full-load operation can be commenced. Only thereafter is it feasible to have the traveler run at full speed and for long periods of time on the ring without causing excessive wear and excessive heating.

It is an object of my invention to provide a traveler guide ring for spinning or twisting machines which affords greatly reducing the starting-up time while also exhibiting highest feasible resistance to wear.

It has been previously attempted to simultaneously satisfy these mutually contradictory requirements by depositing upon a ring of steel a soft metal coating of copper or brass. The hard steel body of the ring is to provide for a long useful life, and the soft-metal coating is to secure a short starting-up period. In practice, however, rings of this type have not been satisfactory because the coating does not become sufficiently integral with the steel of the ring body but tends to loosen, and the frictional wear of the coating material causes soiling. Rings with soft surfaces, therefore, have become obsolete in favor of rings possessing a surface hardness of 60H Re and more. Although the resistance to wear of these rings is very good, a starting-up period of up to 200 hours or more is required. For reducing the starting-up periods, it has been proposed to machine the ring surfaces with tfinest available polishing agents. According to one of these proposals, the ring surfaces have been mechanically or electrolytically polished to a high luster. This, however, has failed to appreciably reduce the starting-up time. Nor has an improvement been achieved by giving the ring surface a somewhat rougher finish and Working lubricants into the surface grooves.

It is therefore a more specific object of my invention to devise a traveler guide ring which secures the good wear-resistant qualities of hard steel rings conjointly with the greatly improved economy of operation afforded by a reduction in starting-up time down to a few hours.

The invention is predicated upon the recognition that 'ice surface is fundamentally unsuitable to appreciably reduce' the starting-up time, as contrasted with the older proposition of a ring having a soft surface, except that according to the invention the detrimental properties of foreignmetal coatings are to be avoided.

According to the invention, therefore, the traveler guide ring of hard steel is given a surface zone of softer steel having a hardness less than 60H Re and extending down to a maximal depth of microns. This soft-steel surface zone is provided at least at the annular areas which enter into contact with the traveler for guiding it along the ring periphery, and the surface zone is intimately bonded to, or forms a single integral body with, the substrate material consisting of the ring body of hard steel.

The fundamental steel material which forms the body of the ring may have uniform hardness over the entire cross section of the ring. However, the steel ring may also be given an increased surface hardness, down to a depth of about 7 to 7 mm, by case hardening or other carburizing or hardening methods, this hard surface region being covered at least at the above-mentioned traveler guide areas, by the softer steel of less than H Rc hardness.

The invention will be further described with reference to an embodiment of a traveler guide ring according to the invention illustrated by way of example on the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 shows the ring partly in section and in conjunction with the traveler and other components of a ring spinning machine; and

FIG. 2 is a cross section through part of the ring.

With the exception of the traveler guide ring 1, the components of the ring spinning machine illustrated in FIG. 1 are conventional. The traveler 2, consisting of an open loop of steel wire, rides along the top of the ring 1 which coaxially surrounds a core 11 carrying a body of yarn being Wound. The core 11 is driven by a sheave 13 to rotate about its axis. The yarn, coming from spinning or stretching rollers of which only the last roller pair is schematically shown at 14, passes through a stationary eye 15 and forms a balloon 16 as it swings about the core 11 while running through the traveler 2 onto the core. During the winding operation a holder 17, straddling the ring 1 or otherwise joined therewith, reciprocates in the vertical direction as is indicated by a double-headed arrow. As a result, the yarn body 12 is wound upon the core 11 in the illustrated shape of a cylinder topped by a cone.

The body of the ring 1 consists of hard carbon steel which need not differ from the kind of steel heretofore used for such traveler guide rings. However, the surface zone 3 (FIG. 2) of the ring is formed of softer steel having a hardness of less than 60H Re. For reasons of illustration, the zone 3 represented by narrow hatching is shown much thicker than corresponds to its real thickness. Actually this surface zone 3 should extend down to a maximum depth of only 50 microns, a depth of about 3 microns being often sufiicient for securing the desired result.

The surface zone 3 preferably consists of the same steel as the inner, body portion of the ring, except that the carbon content of the surface zone is lower. The soft zone of steel is preferably produced by decarburizing the ring surface so that the surface layer 3 is in fact intimately bonded to, or rather fully integral with, the underlying harder steel material of the ring.

By virtue of the soft layer of steel at the surface areas engageable by the traveler 2, the starting-up time is shortened to such an extent as to be completed Within a few hours at slightest feasible wear of the traveler. During the starting-up time, the soft surface layer of steel, being not polished, will rapidly wear off. Consequently, during initial use of the traveler at reduced speed, a few microns of material are removed from the ring surface, and the surface along the path of the traveler is smoothed and polished by the traveler motion. As a result the steel crystalline structure in the uppermost skin of the ring travel path becomes oriented within an extremely short time in such a frictionally favorable manner as to bring about a reduction in friction coefficients and hence a reduction in yarn tension during spinning and twisting. Surprisingly, the frictional heat generated between ring and traveler and visibly manifested by blue discoloration of the traveler foot ends, has been found to be greatly reduced. The use in spinning and twisting practice has shown that rings according to the invention, under otherwise the same operating conditions, can already be more highly loaded during the starting-up period than conventional traveler guide rings.

The soft-steel layer may be produced in various Ways, for example by vapor deposition, plating such as electroplating, spray depositing or annealing of the surface. Applicable also are thermochemical (pyrolytic) deposition or transfer reaction methods in accordance with those used for depositing or growing thin ferromagnetic films of iron and iron alloys on heated substrates.

According to a preferred feature of my invention, however, I have found it particularly advantageous with respect to stability of the products as well as simplicity of manufacture, to have the soft surface zone consist of a. steel Whose composition ditfers from that of the hard base material of the ring body only in that the carbon content is reduced. This reduced carbon content in the softer surface layer is obtained by surface treatment of the steel body, namely by applying to the thin surface zone a modified hardening method. To thi end, the surface is subjected to decarburizing treatment which eliminates some of the carbon. When the ring, thus superficially decarburized, is subsequently hardened by quenching, the steel structure in the outermost surface region is not converted to the hardened structure. Hence, while the bulk of the ring is hardened, the outermost skin layer remains soft. To prevent rusting, it is enerally advantageous to cover the ring surface with a corrosion protective coating as known for such purposes.

It will be understood by those skilled in the art that a particular configuration of the ring and traveler is not essential to the invention and that therefore the invention may be embodied in traveler guide rings of different shape and appearance without departing from the essential features of my invention and within the scope of the claims annexed hereto.

I claim:

1. A traveler guide ring for ring spinning, comprising a ring body of steel having annular surface areas for guiding a traveler, said body having at least at said areas a surface zone of steel softer than that of said body and integrally joined therewith, said ring being a finished product ready for use in a spinning operation.

2. In a traveler guide ring according to claim 1, said surface zone having a depth between about 3 and about microns and having a hardness of less than H Re.

3. In a traveler guide ring according to claim 2, said steel in said surface zone containing a smaller carbon content that said steel of said body.

4. A traveler guide ring for ring spinning, comprising a ring body of steel having annular surface areas for guiding a traveler, said body having at least at said areas a surface zone of steel softer than that of said body and integrally joined therewith, said body and said surface zone consisting of an integral piece of carbon steel of substantially the same composition except for a reduced carbon content in said surface zone.

5. A traveler guide ring according to claim 1, wherein said ring body has a corrosion resistant coating.

6. A traveler guide ring according to claim 4 wherein the depth of said softer surface zone is 50 at most.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,745,835 2/1930 Merrill 57119 2,204,209 6/1940 Davenport et al. 14839 X 2,435,946 2/1948 Evans et al 14839 X 2,448,150 8/1948 Mulholland 57ll9 2,679,466 5/1954 Spendelow et al. 14816 X 2,798,357 7/ 1957 Stahli 57-119 2,987,871 6/1961 Foard 57-120 3,084,501 4/1963 Kluttz 57-1l9 OTHER REFERENCES Publication of paper on Rings and Traveler read before The Textile Institute of Manchester, England," February 1944.

FRANK I. COHEN, Primary Examiner.

WERNER SCHROEDER, Assistant Examiner.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE vCERTIFICATE 0F CORRECTION Patent No. 3,381,464 d May 7, 1968 Stefan Fiirst It is certified that error appears in the above identified patent and that said Letters Patent are hereby corrected as sh wn e w.

In the heading to the printed specification, line 7 u.:-! -Mar. S 1965" should read Feb. 5 1965 Signed and sealed this 14th day of October 1969.

(SEAL) Attest: Eiiafvard M. Fletcher, 1;.

Attesting Officer Commissioner of Patents WILLIAM E. SCHUYLER, JR. 

